Life Planning for the New Year and the New You!
Dear Advisors,
We’re all ready for 2020 to be #over and to dream big in 2021! What do you want to accomplish next year? If you don’t know, you may benefit from Life Planning! Financial planning is great and all, but it’s a worthless exercise if you don’t know what you want in life. From personal experience, I can tell you that Life Planning helps peel back the layers to reveal your life’s purpose. What do you want to do? Who do you want to be? Let’s find out!
George Kinder started the EVOKE Kinder Institute of Life Planning. They provide training for financial advisors to learn how to do Life Planning with their clients. While there’s a lot that goes into it, I’ve summarized the process for you here.
Exploration Meeting - The purpose of the first meeting is to ask open-ended questions to get to know the client. If a couple is doing this together, each person takes turn sharing and actively listening to each other. Don’t try to solve any problems yet. Simply hear what’s important to the client, their passions, their anxieties, and anything they can think of that’s important to include in their plan.
Homework - There are 4 reflection and writing exercises to complete after the first meeting. Ideally, these would be “turned in” before the next meeting, but it’s also okay to bring the homework to the next meeting to review together. If a couple is doing this together, each person should complete the homework individually without sharing their answers.
Vision Meeting - The Vision Meeting is usually held 1-2 weeks after the Exploration Meeting. It’s where we review the themes that stand out from the homework. Together you work with the client to clarify a short-term vision of the client’s ideal life. Ask questions to urge the client to describe what it would look like and feel like to accomplish their life’s purpose. If a couple is doing this together, they should take turns sharing their dreams individually and listening to each other.
Obstacles Meeting - The Obstacles Meeting is usually held 1-2 weeks after the Vision Meeting. Here, you’ll help identify challenges and start to work on solutions. Help them discover how their unique talents and abilities can empower them to create their ideal life. Again, for couples, they should try to equally share and listen in turn, without interrupting or talking over one another.
Life Planning can be an emotional journey. These meetings are meant to welcome whatever emotions that come up. We’re trying to discover the underlying passions that make the foundation of a life worth living. Once you complete this process, you’re to dive into the financial planning process and make real life changes!
Not only is it a tool to use with clients, but it's something we should be doing ourselves. I went through my own life planning process with another advisor this year and it changed everything for me. That’s why we’ve incorporated the 3 big life planning questions into our financial planning process. We believe that your life plan should direct your financial plan, not the other way around. Keep us in mind when you’re ready to hire your own advisor to secure the future of your family and advisory firm!
Warm regards,
Brooklyn
P.S.
At Ellevate Advisors, we believe that advisors deserve to retire too. What does that look like for you, your family, and your business? Let’s figure it out together! Click here to schedule an initial phone call with our team today or get to know me on my bio here!